UJOR Build Thread

[350outrage]

Well guys, I've had a bit of a set back. You may have heard of the rain, flooding, and tornados in OK the past week. Long story short is Last Thurs. I was out driving around between storms when I got stuck on the infamous mud trail behind my barn. Tried to pull out with tractor, tractor got stuck. Then starts the rain, lightning, hail, and nightfall. Had to leave everything for rescue the next day. Overnight, we had a "centennial" rain storm, and the van got hit with 39" of water. It was 8" deep in the floor. Finally got it out on Fri. Checked oil before trying to start--no water; good! Miraculously, started right up. Pulled out on Fri. Drying, cleaning, pulling carpets, etc all weekend. Van started missing and quit on me during test drive up to carwash. Anyway, it is basicly drying now and at shop for diagnosis and check/change of all diff fluids, etc that may have gotten water in. Don't know if She'll be back on the road by Memorial Day or not. Mechanic says very unlikely that water got into gas tank, but he's checking this along with what codes the motor might have set. Any general advice appreciated.

 

[350outrage]

BTW, after quitting on me, it restarted and made it back home, and then drove to the mech. shop under its own power. Still has a troubling miss and loss of power though.

 

[ujoint]

Oh thats terrible! Have him drop the tank no matter what. Flush full lines, etc too.

 

[tgreening]

Seems like you already followed what would be the best advice, and thats get it to a good mech. If you've got no ewater in the fuel or oil you're probably ahead of the game. My guess on the stalling/miss is you've got some moisture in your ignition system somewhere that needs drying out. Get her dried out good on the inside, which sounds like you're already on top of, and I'll bet you're going to be golden in the end.

 

[patoz]

Nothing like the smell of wet seats and carpet backing on a warm humid morning!

Been there, done that, and got a whole closet full of T-shirts. Down here in Florida, a good part (most of it) of our four-wheeling is done in swamps. No matter how good you are, sooner or later you are going to get promoted to 'Submarine Commander'. It's inevitable and it WILL happen, you just don't know when.

Good luck getting her all cleaned up!

 

[350outrage]

@ Greening, Patoz and Chris; Thanks guys ! Your comments are appreciated.

 

[brushogger]

Well guys, I've had a bit of a set back. You may have heard of the rain, flooding, and tornados in OK the past week. Long story short is Last Thurs. I was out driving around between storms when I got stuck on the infamous mud trail behind my barn. Tried to pull out with tractor, tractor got stuck. Then starts the rain, lightning, hail, and nightfall. Had to leave everything for rescue the next day. Overnight, we had a "centennial" rain storm, and the van got hit with 39" of water. It was 8" deep in the floor. Finally got it out on Fri. Checked oil before trying to start--no water; good! Miraculously, started right up. Pulled out on Fri. Drying, cleaning, pulling carpets, etc all weekend. Van started missing and quit on me during test drive up to carwash. Anyway, it is basicly drying now and at shop for diagnosis and check/change of all diff fluids, etc that may have gotten water in. Don't know if She'll be back on the road by Memorial Day or not. Mechanic says very unlikely that water got into gas tank, but he's checking this along with what codes the motor might have set. Any general advice appreciated.

That sucks bigtime. It's a real pita to pull all those wet interior bits. At least it didn't get blown away. We lucked out at our place.

 

[350outrage]

That sucks bigtime. It's a real pita to pull all those wet interior bits. At least it didn't get blown away. We lucked out at our place.

I'll bet the rear carpet weighed 100 lb when I wrestled it out. Sure was fun giving that wet smelly thing a bear hug to walk it out and over to a drying rack. (Sarcasm intended :-/). Latest word from mechanic is that he just drained xfer case and it had quite a bit of water in it. Now they're draining transmission and rear diff. We saw the vent hose for the front diff goes almost all the way to the windshield, so we're thinking water prob didn't get in there. (Thanks UJOINT!). The mechanics were pretty surprised that the vent hose was taken so high. . .def a quality install on the frt axle.

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

Recently did an interview with a local magazine, turned out pretty nice!

http://www.capitalatplay.com/the-off-road-less-travelled/

Two qualities I instill in my children are hard work ethic and determination will help you in life. Chris has shown both as well as other great qualities such as customer service and making things right. I respect that immensely. Great, well written article and keep up the great work. One day I'll walk in your door for a conversion.

 

[bkbroiler00]

I'll bet the rear carpet weighed 100 lb when I wrestled it out. Sure was fun giving that wet smelly thing a bear hug to walk it out and over to a drying rack. (Sarcasm intended :-/). Latest word from mechanic is that he just drained xfer case and it had quite a bit of water in it. Now they're draining transmission and rear diff. We saw the vent hose for the front diff goes almost all the way to the windshield, so we're thinking water prob didn't get in there. (Thanks UJOINT!). The mechanics were pretty surprised that the vent hose was taken so high. . .def a quality install on the frt axle.

Sorry to hear that. Everything happens for a reason so continue to stay positive. Maybe it'll be a chance to redo something that you weren't quite liking or make another improvement to your build. Still sucks! Maybe try using a leaf blower to really blast the moisture out...

:sunny:

 

[mk216v]

Recently did an interview with a local magazine, turned out pretty nice!

http://www.capitalatplay.com/the-off-road-less-travelled/

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:
You know I know how difficult this industry can be, especially to get established, and then continue to prosper. You sir are a true testament to doing it right; I CANNOT say enough praise for your products and service/support. HUGE kudos Chris(and your team)!!!

Signed,
UJOR fanboy along with Vandiana Jones :sombrero:

PS-working on 2 new UJOR owners for you from out west, saving them from SMB's; I'll have them contact you for their next move

 

[350outrage]

Sorry to hear that. Everything happens for a reason so continue to stay positive. Maybe it'll be a chance to redo something that you weren't quite liking or make another improvement to your build. Still sucks! Maybe try using a leaf blower to really blast the moisture out...

:sunny:

Thanks for the encouraging word, Bk. Interior of the van seems dry now that all carpet is out and van has aired for a couple days. I lucked out on the seats, water d/n get high enough to reach the upholstery on them. I'm prob going to be out a lot of money to the mechanic, so to make myself feel better, I looked at some new 4wd trucks online. My mechanic bill will prob be less than the tag and registration would be on a new truck. At $60K+, who is buying these things? Also, I'm really thanking God right now that the van is just a plain ol' Ford, and not some fancy Mercedes or such. My local mech would have grabbed his cross and stopped me at the door with "GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN!"

 

[ujoint]

Left AVL @ 6am Tuesday, put down 1000 miles and made it just west of OKC. Met up with Dave & friends for breakfast and then got back on the road to Flagstaff! Hit some rain in the AM but the day was pretty nice for driving. V4 did great.

 

[tgreening]

Chris when you get the alignment done on these conversions what do you tell the alignment shop?

 

[FarmerFrederico]

Hope the vacation is going well, Chris! Sorry I'll miss you when you come through CO.

This is a question for the UJOR masses. I'm getting Chris's 6" lift on 35's for my RB van and hope it will weigh less than 9,000 when finished. Woohoo!!!

Pretty sure I'll go with the Pro Comp 7069 alloy wheels. Tires is another question though as the Toyo AT II's are on backorder for a couple months. I'll be doing easy to moderate wheeling here in Colorado in the summers...it would be nice to find a tire that does winter duty too because I'm short on storage at my house. Will be driving to Oregon and back and Iowa and back this summer so decent sound and handling on road are a requirement....want to stay away from MT's if possible.

On the radar are:

-BFG AT KO2's
-Duratracs are only rated D with 8 ply in this size.
-Cooper Discover AT3's are only rated D with 8 ply in this size too.

Of those three the Duratracs would be best in winter and I only really hear good reviews on them. What do you guys think?